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Swiss Post takes its last petrol scooter out of service

Communication dated 05.01.2017

As part of its commitment to sustainability, Swiss Post focuses on climate protection, with sustainable transport solutions used for the delivery of letters. Swiss Post has now taken its last petrol-powered scooter off the road. This means all of Swiss Post’s fleet of approximately 6,300 two- and three-wheeled delivery vehicles are now electrically powered, and solely with green electricity from Switzerland. This will help Swiss Post save around 4,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. As part of a pilot project in the Umwelt Arena in Spreitenbach, Swiss Post is also testing ways to reuse the discarded batteries from the electric scooters.

All of Swiss Post’s mail carriers now do their delivery rounds on two or three-wheeled vehicles in a quiet, environmentally friendly way. The conversion of the mail delivery fleet at Swiss Post from petrol to electricity is now complete: the final yellow Piaggio Liberty petrol scooter, used until recently for mail delivery in Stein am Rhein in the Canton of Schaffhausen, has now been taken out of service. It was the last of around 70 such motorcycles in service for mail delivery over the past year from an original total of 7,500. Since the start of 2017, all two- and three-wheel delivery vehicles at Swiss Post are battery-powered, running on “naturemade star” certified green electricity from Switzerland. These vehicles are far more environmentally friendly than their established predecessors. The electric vehicles require around six times less energy than a petrol scooter. Compared to previously, Swiss Post is now saving 733 kg CO2 per vehicle and, in turn, a total of around 4,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

The three-wheeled Kyburz DXP model now accounts for the bulk of the mail carrier delivery fleet. Together with a trailer, the three-wheeler, which was developed by Swiss company Kyburz to meet Swiss Post’s needs, can transport up to three times more than a two-wheeled vehicle. It also makes considerably less noise and is more ergonomic. Around 6,300 yellow battery-powered two- and three-wheelers will be used for mail delivery in Switzerland, representing the largest fleet of electric scooters of its kind in Europe. Bearing witness to an entire era, Swiss Post’s last petrol scooter will be handed over to the Museum of Communication in Schwarzenburg in the Canton of Berne in January.

Swiss Post tests a second life for scooter batteries in the Umwelt Arena

Ecological sustainability is very important to Swiss Post. One key aspect in connection with the battery-powered scooters is the reuse of batteries that have reached the end of their service life after around seven years of daily delivery rounds. With this in mind Swiss Post launched the project “A second lease of life for Swiss Post scooter batteries” last December. Discarded batteries are to be used as stationary energy storage units in buildings with solar systems. In the Umwelt Arena in Spreitenbach, the first storage unit of its kind is now being built. The storage unit has a capacity of around 10 kWh. By recycling the batteries, Swiss Post is tackling two important topics simultaneously: the recycling of batteries from electric vehicles and the storage of solar power. In March of this year, Swiss Post will be building a second battery storage unit of this kind at the train station in Neuchâtel, where it has its own solar power system.